No new chancellor was named for the Minnesota State system Thursday after all.
After a nationwide search that produced three finalists, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities board of trustees decided that they had not yet found the right person.
Instead they voted unanimously to name Devinder Malhotra, a former interim president of Metropolitan State University, as interim leader to succeed Chancellor Steven Rosenstone, who is retiring after a rocky relationship with faculty and other unions in his six-year career in the position
The new chancellor was to have started Aug. 1, and essentially become the CEO of a system that serves nearly 400,000 students, the state's largest provider of higher education.
A statement released Thursday said, "The board concluded that, after an extensive search, it had not yet identified the right individual to serve as chancellor on a permanent basis." Malhotra will serve until a permanent chancellor is named, it said.
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Malhotra was interim president of Metropolitan State University from 2014 until his retirement in 2016. Before that he was provost and vice president for academic affairs at St. Cloud State University from 2009 to 2014.
Before coming to Minnesota, he was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern Maine and associate dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Akron. A tenured professor of economics for more than three decades, he holds a bachelor's degree and a master's from the University of Delhi, and a doctorate from Kansas State University.
The three finalists were Michael Martin, chancellor emeritus of the Colorado State University System; Keith Miller, president emeritus of Lock Haven University in central Pennsylvania; and Cathy Sandeen, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and University of Wisconsin-Extension.
Rosenstone announced last spring that he would retire when his current contract expires in July.
The new chancellor will oversee 16,500 employees and take the helm of Minnesota State, formerly known as MnSCU, as it faces financial challenges.
The system, which includes 37 four-year colleges and state universities and 54 campuses across the state, announced new strategies last year after a warning of deficits of $66 million to $475 million a year by 2025. Officials are at the State Capitol pursuing $178 million in new funding in the next biennium - with some funds to be used to freeze tuition.
Since last fall, Minnesota State has conducted a search for the next top leader. A 19-member search committee included representatives from faculty, staff and students.
Minnesota State includes several schools in the Northland, including Lake Superior College in Duluth; Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet; Mesabi Range College in Eveleth and Virginia ; Hibbing Community College; Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids; Vermilion Community College in Ely; and Rainy River Community College in International Falls.
